SUMMER The Donna Summer Musical Falls Short of Scoring High on the Charts

SUMMER The Donna Summer Musical has all the winning ingredients to be a mega-Broadway hit but it melts into a sticky icing flowing goo.  With legendary producer Tommy Mottola, book by Tony & Olivier winner Colman Domingo and a hot stuffed musical score, I expected to feel the love but there weren't any sparks.   The 3 lead performers as different aged Donnas were sensational.   But, the fragmented, flashback storylines send things amiss.  The biopic musical of the 5 time Grammy  winning song writer who created a heartbeat and soundtrack of a generation didn't work hard enough for the money you paid.  The audience were never roused to get up and dance except for the show stopping finale, the Oscar winning number "Last Dance."  Summer's life was not all sequins and the show's sequence of events felt hurried or white washed.  Summer's explanation for the misunderstanding of a hateful gay slur seemed weak and the sexual abuse by her priest in the church didn't ring out.  The choreography was uninspired and the scenic design garish.  The show will have a niche audience who'll come to hear their favorites heard on the radio and relive their glory days.   SUMMER is less than the sum of all its parts and it doesn't rise to the top of the charts.    Heaven knows I would've love to love the show but all the sweet highlights were dim.